Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Since I first uncovered crime writing, I instantly fell in love with this adrenaline pumping genre; whether it is a police procedural novel, a heart stopping thriller or, dare I say it, a novel written from the perpetrator’s point of view, I will never tire of delving into the murky depths of this fascinating and hugely engrossing style of literature. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I heard about NOIRELAND, a three-day crime fiction festival which was recently held at the Europa Hotel, Belfast, to celebrate and showcase the amazing talent emerging from Ireland as well as to explore crime writing from across the world, and looking at the impact Ireland has had on the genre.

The Festival, in addition to a series of talks from authors such as Benjamin Black, Adrian McKinty, Stuart Neville, Arne Dahl and Sophie Hannah, to name but a mere few, also offered workshops for budding…

This morning, while the radio news talked of nothing but Manchester, my 10-year-old daughter asked me if it was still safe to go and see Adele at Wembley Stadium in July. The ticket was her big Christmas present and the printout of the order confirmation has been blu-tacked to her wall for months. She’s as […]

Dynamic Ecology has had a couple of recent posts relating to peer review roles (reviewer, associate editor) that seem to have struck a nerve. I want to provide some thoughts on the two fundamental roles of peer-review: gatekeeping and editing.

Last year I was lucky enough to meet and strike up a friendship with mother and daughter Jo Allmond and Jess Hiles. I met them at an event I was speaking at in Milton Keynes for McIntyre Care, which is leading the way for highlighting the issue of those with a learning disability that also has dementia.

Jess is an amazing person whose Nan had dementia. Sadly she died very recently, but during the process of trying to understand dementia we became friends.

Jo kindly asked me to contribute one of my poems to a book of poems described as:

“A selection of poems by those not always heard”

Well the book is out around the 1st May and Jo and Jess will be appearing at the Hawksbury Upton Literary Festival on the 22nd April – you can see them in a list of speakers on the web site:

He was arrested at Heathrow (Picture: Shutterstock)A man was arrested at Heathrow airport last night after he boarded a plane without a passport or a ticket. The suspect, who is being held by police, got on the Cathay Pacific flight for Hong Kong at around 7pm. Being called fat aged six by my father led to…